Stradivarius violin fetches $19.6 million at auction.

A file photo of a Stradivarius violin. -- ST PHOTO: ALAN LIM LONDON - A RARE Stradivarius violin smashed the world record on Monday after selling for over 9.8 million pounds (S$19.6 million) at a London auction with all proceeds going to help victims of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami. An anonymous bidder at the Tarisio auction house paid 9,808,000 pounds for the 1721 'Lady Blunt' Stradivarius, over four times the previous auction record for a Stradivari violin. The exquisite instrument was owned for 30 years by Lady Anne Blunt, granddaughter of the celebrated English poet Lord Byron, and is 'in much the same condition as when it left its maker's hands,' expert W.E. Hill said. The violin was acquired by the Tokyo-based Nippon Music Foundation in 2008, and 100 per cent of the funds from the sale will be channelled to victims through the group's Northeastern Japan...